Greenville S.C. – It was a learning experience for the Presbyterian College women's soccer team on Friday night as the Blue Hose fell 6-2 to open the season at Furman. PC trailed the entire way and falls to 0-1 on the season while the Paladins improve to 2-0 on the young season. The Blue Hose will return home to face College of Charleston on Monday night at 7 p.m.
“Furman was very aggressive tonight,” said head coach Brian Purcell. “Although our players' effort was there in every way tonight, we made some small mistakes that seemed to turn into goals each time.”
The Blue Hose opened the match with a pair of probing attacks that did not materialize into shots. Kate Baker looked poised to score but was dispossessed at the last minute as the attempted to dish the ball to a trailing teammate.
Things went sour for PC in the 18th minute as Furman's Martha Hall scored off a rebounded shot to make the score 1-0. Fifteen minutes later, Alexa Jones doubled the advantage as she chipped a shot in over PC starting goalkeeper Abby Young to make the score 2-0. The Jones scored again just before halftime to make the score 3-0 at the break.
The Hose came out of halftime with renewed enthusiasm, earning two corners and playing with an eye for goal. However it was Furman who scored first in the second period as Katya Gokhman converted a free kick to make the score 4-0.
The bright spot for the evening came when Baker drew a goal back for the Blue Hose in the 54th minute with a left-footed shot from 23 yards that beat a diving Jessica Smith. Smith, the goalkeeper for Furman, saw her school record goalless string of 555:45 come to an end.
Furman's Jones responded by scoring a pair of goals in quick succession to make the score 6-1. Jones posted four goals on the evening to tie a school record.
With 19 seconds remaining in the game, Emily Davis scored an unassisted goal from 26 yards to make the final score 6-2. Davis intercepted the throw from Furman's Smith and was able to catch the net minder off her line for the goal.
Overall, PC tallied 5 shots to Furman's 18 and trailed 11-2 in corner kicks won.
The Blue Hose will return home to face College of Charleston on Monday evening. The game starts at 7 p.m. from Martin Stadium.
